District Invest Group works with all kinds of buyers and sellers, but we specialize in working with investors, and investor-minded clients. Our client base varies from novice first-time investors all the way up to people buying multimillion-dollar apartment buildings and everything in between. In fact, we love helping someone take that journey over the course of several years from starting out with their first cheap property, helping them grow, and eventually buying an apartment building.
Some of the strategies and asset classes we work with:
House Hacking
Let's talk about the strategies for House Hacking in the DMV.
Multifamily - Multis (2-4 units) are rare in the DC area.
Maryland - On the Maryland side of the border they will typically be found in Takoma Park. If they are inside the city limits they are subject to rent control. But a property may have a Takoma Park address, but be outside the city limits. The east side of Flower Ave is outside the city limits. There will be a few here and there in other parts of Maryland, but not many.
Washington, D.C. - The neighborhoods we will typically find legal multis are in Dupont Circle, Columbia Heights, Kingman Park, Trinidad, Ivy City, Bloomingdale, Shaw, Petworth, Anacostia, Deanwood.
Virginia - Only about 8 seller per year on average in Arlington and Alexandria.
Accessory Dwelling Units - The laws on ADUs vary greatly by jurisdiction. The one common element is that they are available to only Owner Occupants. That means you can not rent out the 2 units separately. The owner must occupy one of the units.
Maryland - Montgomery County - Off-street parking is required if more than 1 mile from the metro. Under 1200 sq feet. Occupancy limit of 2 people. Separate entrance on side or rear of the house. All the requirements can be found here.
Washington, D.C. - Only allowed in certain Zoning. 7-foot ceilings on 70% of the ceiling height. Egress from the living area. Separate mechanicals. More information can be found here.
Virginia - Fairfax County and the City of Alexandria have both been having recent hearings on loosening and allowing ADUs. Arlington allows them and the information on that can be found here.
Rent By The Room/Roommates - Possibly the most popular strategy and can be implemented everywhere. Rents can range anywhere from $700-1400 per room depending on location. In the city, $1,000 a room, and in the suburbs $900 per room are very common prices people are paying. DC allows 6 unrelated people to live together; Maryland allows 5, and Virginia allows 4.
Multifamily
Multifamily 2-4 unit properties are incredibly rare in the DC & Baltimore metro area. The housing stock in the suburbs is less than 1/10th of 1% multifamily. In DC proper, about 4% of properties are multis, and that number is shrinking as more of them get carved up into condos. Roughly 200 multis sell per year in the entire metro area.
With the extreme pressure on the supply side, this creates high demand for this type of housing product. I regularly capture about 3% of the entire multifamily market and understand the nuances of this ultra competitive segment of our market.
With such a lack of multifamily housing in the metro area, many agents simply do not have the experience working in this sector. Due to their inexperience, we will often see legal multifamily properties inadvertently listed in the single-family section of the MLS. When this happens, the property appears to be an overpriced single-family and will often languish on the MLS. As a buyer, this can be a great buying opportunity, as those looking for multis simply do not know the property even exists. As a seller though, if this happens to you, it could cost you a significant amount of money. I see this happen all too often.
Commercial Multifamily
Within this niche, we see cap rates anywhere from 3% in DC up to about 8% in Baltimore. This will be a reflection of the risk in the asset and the individual market. We see plenty of performing assets, as well as non-performing and value, add assets in the market.
Purchasing commercial grade multifamily can be a scary endeavor if you have not done it yet. The lending aspect can be intimidating, but we have top-notch commercial lenders we work with. The inspector and due diligence process are undoubtedly more time-consuming, but we will walk you through this complicated process. You will look back at the end and feel all that anxiety was for nothing as we make this process as smooth as possible for you.